Sportivo Blues :(

[ZEEROLLA]

Hi guys, its the newbie ZEEROLLA. I have read through the forum and know that the Sportivo does have some problems and i am trying to relate them to my ride. My Rolla currently has these symptoms:

1)Transmission cable rattle; fixed temporarily by Stewart Toyota's mechanic - he fastened the cable and lifted it away from the exhaust hence reducing the noise.

2)Soft noise from gearbox when driving at 2000-4000rpm. Could it be the cables again?

3)Noisy clutch/engine; hearing tapping noise sometimes when stopped at traffic light and sound disappears when clutch pedal is depressed.

My rolla has 400kms on the clock and i was wondering if the car needs an elaborate run-in which the manual says is not necessary. I have been revving it since day one but i have not raced the car or quick shifted it. I have just been driving it "normally" and revving it when i need the extra grunt. Has any of you out there experienced these problems? I know some are getting the cables fixed. I think i should get the car checked out thoroughly at the 1000km service.

One more thing, i fitted the rear skirt as the dealer said it was fine and guess what, i have melted the bottom of the skirt. I have since had the exhaust tip bent down slightly to avoid further damage. Luckily it was the interior of the skirt that melted and not much damage to the exterior :P

Zee

[BlackRolla]

Hey ZeeRolla, sorry to hear about ur problems dude, but most of us here had similar problems so ur not the only one. :)

I had the problem with the rattles with the gear selector cables. Got it changed about 2 months ago and so far no probs.

I also get tapping noises under the car. Spoke to the guys at the service department and even took another sportivo for a drive, same noises again. Apparently all sportivos give that noise so if i hear it on another stivo then I would assume they're all the same. Can someone confirm tbis please?

Other than that ist's all good!

Cheers :D

[xTiGeRx]

brakes....

selector cable rattle...

tapping under car.....

ticking..and when pedal pressed..goes away..

got them all.

and...i can't rev to 8200rpm. (so far..only lorman and i have this problem..anyone else?)

[Mr duck]

My car has done about 4000k now and apart from the rear disc brake sqeal in reverse, which everyone else seems to have developed, I have had no problems at all. Which makes me ask have I been lucky in buying the car I got or are you guys driving your cars too hard?

[Screaminrolla]

i havent had any of these problems and mine has almost 20000ks on it but ive had my steering rack replaced and im getting the front right shock replaced on thursday all because of a knocking noise hopefully the shock fixes it

[ZEEROLLA]

xTiGeRx,

I "accidently" revved my Sportivo to around 8000rpm in 1st gear today and if i was not mistaken, i think it cutout right at 8K or just before ! Hmm.. iam thinking i could be having the same problem you're having! I wasn't looking at the tacho then but i got to try again later to confirm with you :P I am thinking could it be due to the relatively new engine? The testcar i drove went up to around 8100-8200rpm. Anyway, did you manage to get most of your problems fixed or have you given up already and living with it ;) ?

[Danthuyer]

All of these issues that people are having resolved or not. Are they all on 03 models or are any of them occuring on 04 models???

E-gene is the latest buyer and he got an 03 didnt he??

[E-Gene]

Yup, mine is an 2003 model, but I haven;t seen those problems on my car as yet. As for the gear cable rattles, I only get that when the car is low on power, like I should be in 1st but am in 2nd.

Other than that, I've yet to see the other problem on my car....and I hope that I never will.

[qkslvr]

Hi Guys

My rolla cuts out at outactly 8000rpm. isn't that when it's suppose to cut out? any further would put it into the red which is not good for the engine right?

[ZEEROLLA]

All of these issues that people are having resolved or not. Are they all on 03 models or are any of them occuring on 04 models???

E-gene is the latest buyer and he got an 03 didnt he??

Danthuyer,

I bought my Sportivo a week ago and it is built in Dec 03 and complianced 04 so it is basically an 04 model. It has since clocked 550kms and it is driving great except some of the problems i stated above.

Zee

[ZEEROLLA]

Hi Guys

My rolla cuts out at outactly 8000rpm. isn't that when it's suppose to cut out? any further would put it into the red which is not good for the engine right?

qkslvr,

i think the Sportivo is meant to cutout at around 8200rpm - 8400rpm if i have not mistaken. I saw this video clip of a guy revving his Sportivo out and it went all the way just pass redline to about 8400rpm in 1st gear. I floored mine in 2nd gear today going down hill and it went all the way to 8200rpm without any rev-cutout. If you are experiencing an earlier cutout, i would say it could be the ECU playing up. Probably needs to be tuned? Maybe xTiGeRx can help regarding this issue?

Zee :)

[ZEEROLLA]

brakes....

selector cable rattle...

tapping under car.....

ticking..and when pedal pressed..goes away..

got them all.

and...i can't rev to 8200rpm. (so far..only lorman and i have this problem..anyone else?)

xTiGeRx,

i managed to get my Sportivo revved up to 8200rpm without cutting out today so i guess something is really amiss there if you are not able to. I would say get the ECU tuned, maybe on a dyno or something. Could it also be due to the petrol you are putting into the car? Coz the ECU might sense poor RON rating and hence causing an earlier cutout? Anyway, keep me updated on it and did you get all the problems you mentioned on your car fixed at all?

Zee

[126]

if you have a problem with electronics you should take your car to the service department where a dianostic technician can connect his/her computer to your car. any faults your car has with electronics will be reported on the computer. if the computer reports no faults then it should be a mechanic problem and need inspection by a mechanic. if you are having problems with your car please organise for it to be assessed quickly.

[xTiGeRx]

i mentioned the problems at the 1,000km service, but nothing happened.

I'm due for my 5,000km service. I'll be bringing up all the issues with them again...

the last time i mentioned about the brake noise..nothing wad done. <_<

mentioned the gear selector cable noise...so called 'fix' part wasn't available for a while...they didn't call me back. <_<

other stuff, happened after 1,000km service.

As for the ECU, i spoke to my dealer before about it..and they said give it a few more km's and if it doesn't let you rev out after that, come back and they'll check it out..hmm...i wonder what they'll do... <_<

But, at the moment, i'm just living with it all....because i can't rev out to 8,200-8,400. makes me more determined to land in lift 1-->2 quicker! almost getting it... ;)

Mine is a NOV 03 build, DEC 03 COMPLIED.

With some aftermarket chips, it'll actually let you rev out to 9,000rpm. :D

My salesman (who is really helpful) sells them to his 'clients'. not through the dealership of course...he just said.."change the oil every 5,000km and it'll be fine" :P

The fuel i use is Shell Optimax of BP Ultimate, i don't use anything else...i also get them from the not so run down and pretty new looking petrol stations.

ZEEROLLA: nothing fixed...living with it...for now. <_<

orrock: thanx for the suggestion about the ECU diag. i'll enquire about it with my dealer...they better not charge me for it though!

any other questions? :D hahaha

-Chris

[steve139]

So far I've had the following warranty repairs

- new steering rack

- left shock replaced

- right shock replaced

- handbrake adjustment (didnt hold car on a slope when new)

- gear selector cable (Toyota Head Office tell me that a new cable is being designed by Toyota (out in another 3 months).

- the engine ticking noise (goes away when clutch depressed) is related to the gear selector cable rattling (so I am told...who knows).

Steve

[magicmayhem]

Got my car 10k services last friday after going on a 3week holiday B) , iam also getting my shocks replace, i notice a bad knocking sound when going through small bumps and also while turing, service cost me $170, replacing shock is under warranty.

Cheers

[xoom]

Hey Steve,

Did you have the re-design of the gear selector cables confirmed by toyota ? are they gona call you back once its they have them or do you need to request it ? I have changed the muffler on my car to basically sound out those bloody rattles and its been great with a sporty grunt over riding the noise from those bloody cables but now the cables are getting noisier as i can slightly hear them over the exhaust if im not making the muffler work. BUT hey its a characteristic remember

So yeah can you let me know

[126]

even though the part has been confirmed for you please do not rest between now and june. please contact the dealer regularly to check on the status. i know this takes up your time and you could be a pain for the dealer but you are the customer and if you do not push them they could easily forget about you or let the matter drag on and on and past june. the dealer needs to know that you are serious. you have purchased a new car but it is faulty.

[oz_viking]

Hi Guys,

I'm a new Sportivo owner, built Dec 03, complianced Jan 04 like Zeerolla's. It's just over 2000km old and I must say I haven't noticed too many probs except for these, which apparently are well known:

1) rattle in dash apparent around 4000rpm

2) squeaky brakes in reverse

3) occasionally difficult to shift out of gear (1st and 2nd) when under hard acceleration (ie. under at high revs)

It's a little hard to tell, but I think my fuel cut is at 8200rpm, but I know if the engine is cold it won't rev over 7100!

I'm in Adelaide, BTW.

[xoom]

Hi orrock,

I once had the same positive attitude as you did until i took toyota to the full extent of the law and found out we dont have 2 legs to stand on as the law protects these large car manufactorers from these issue. If you like more information about what i did, what i had done, who i spoke 2 see these posts

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/index.php?a...findpost&p=2385

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/index.php?a...findpost&p=2433

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/index.php?a...findpost&p=1579

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/index.php?a...findpost&p=1528

So what can i say but all the pushing in the world aint going to get this solved. I know i took them all the way and it went no where. I am going to keep calling every now and then to see if they have a fix but at the end of the day and here i am quoting the fair trading guy "TOYOTA COULD WALK AWAY FROM THIS WITHOUT FIXING IT IF THEY CHOOSE TO"

Sorry to break it to you like this

Bill

[126]

xoom i understand and i am sorry to hear about your trouble. please don't give up. work positively with your dealer to fix your problems. if you are quiet i feel they would think all is merry at your end and no more service is needed for you.

[Toohey]

xoom, I disagree with you that the law is set up to protect large car manufacturers. Sure the Department of Fair Trading might not have been able to help you, but they are not an enforcement body.

Try sending your dealer a letter of demand stating that if the problem is not resolved within a reasonable period of time then you will pursue the matter further via a Small Claims Tribunal.

State and Federal legislation in Aust. is set up to protect the consumer. Both the Trade Practices Act, and the Fair Trading Act's in each state, state that "goods must be of a merchantable quality". Merchantable quality refers to goods meeting a basic level of quality and performance that would be reasonable to expect bearing in mind the price and the way the goods were described.

If it can be established that your car is not of a merchantable quality then as a consumer you are entitled to refund, repair or replacement at your discretion.

Sure Toyota being a company of their size is not going to remedy the problem unless it is absolutely necessary, but your contract of sale is not with Toyota Australia, it is with the dealer you purchased the vehicle from, and they have a specific obligation to provide you with a product that meets a level of quality that you were lead to believe you were going to receive.

If they are unwilling to provide a product in line with statutory requirements placed on them by State and Federal legislation then enforce that legislation via the courts.

As long as your claim is less than about $10000 you can take actions via a Tribunal for minimal costs without legal representation.

If every person enforced their rights to such a point then the dealers would be on the back of Toyota bloody quick to have the matters resolved.

M2C.

[NIKICH]

Spoken as if you were a lawyer :)

[Danthuyer]

I put my new beast in for its 1000 this morning.

We almost had to get a 2nd piece of paper to write down all of the things i wanted them to look at

- gear cable noise

- braking noise

- oil chane to synthetic

- reverse noise (beep...beep...beep)

- rattle in dash over 4000 RPM

- left rear access to tail light not 100% fit

- rattle near gearbox at idle or deceleration

- fitting of rear skirt

- fitting of sports grill

All sound fairly minor and will hopefully be resolved today :)

Edited March 12, 2004 by Danthuyer

[Toohey]

Nah not a lawyer